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Jim Boeheim: Team USA's future safe with Cooper Flagg and other young players
Former Syracuse head coach and Team USA assistant Jim Boeheim says the future will be bright for the U.S. even after that trio of 30-somethings exits the international stage. Led by Curry’s 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc, the Americans won their fifth straight gold medal, 98-87, over France on Saturday in Paris. “I’m not worried about our game,” Boeheim said on SiriusXM NBA Radio with Sam Vincent and Vince Goodwill ahead of the gold-medal game. “I think we’re still going to be there. A guy like Cooper Flagg coming, some of these young players coming out the next couple years are really good. “We haven’t had these guys, the kid AJ Dybantsa there, the big Boozer kid [Cam Boozer], Carlos’s son, there are some really good players coming along.”
Boeheim, who retired after last season at Syracuse, spoke to The News about Detroit's hiring of Williams, who signed the richest coaching contract in NBA history last week. Boeheim said he gives Pistons owner Tom Gores and general manager Troy Weaver "a lot of credit" for that record-breaking investment in Williams. "No nicer guy in the world," Boeheim said. "He knows the game and he's really good with players. He'll be really good with that team because there are so many young players. He'll be a really good communicator with those guys."
Legendary Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim retires after 47 years
Jim Boeheim worked his last game as Syracuse's head coach on Wednesday. Hours after a 77-74 loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament, Syracuse announced that Boeheim will be replaced by associated head coach Adrian Autry.
Boeheim is an icon at Syracuse, having coached the men's basketball team for 47 years. It's a span that's seen the Orange play the entirety of their Big East existence from 1979-2013 and 10 seasons since a landscape-shattering move to the ACC. It's a span that includes 35 NCAA tournament appearances, five Final Fours and the 2003 national championship featuring Carmelo Anthony.
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On Jerami Grant. Jim Boeheim, head coach: I saw him down in the D.C. area, where my sister lives. She said, who is this guy you’re recruiting? She had never heard of him. He wasn’t all-city or all-league. Adrian Autry, associate head coach: I was recruiting him for Virginia Tech first. Just saw an athlete. A 1 percent athlete. He showed up for big plays on both ends of the floor. Nolan Hart, walk-on: He wasn’t our most heralded recruit we had. We had so much talent on those teams. He was easy-going, a nice guy, with a big smile, who kept to himself.
On Jerami Grant. Buddy Boeheim, son of Jim Boeheim: I got to some practices as a kid, and all I remember was Jerami’s crazy dunks. He’d have some wild put-back dunks almost every day. Belbey: Ryan Cabiles, our strength coach, does testing with the guys. One thing we did was a standing jump to test our vertical. With Jerami, he had to keep raising the bars higher and higher because he kept maxing out, over 40 inches. (Grant out-jumped the 12-foot measuring device before the 2014 NBA Draft.) Trevor Cooney, guard: Super athletic. He could touch almost the top of the backboard. Brandon Triche, guard: My first impression was that he was very athletic, had very great length and was a great guy. He has always moved like a small guard.
On Jerami Grant. Boeheim: His shooting was always the problem early on. That was something he needed to work on here. Triche: He ran the floor better than anybody I knew. Even his ballhandling was surprisingly good. His biggest strength was his slashing skills; he could really get to the basket. The biggest thing is they were trying to fix his release. Kolinski: He wasn’t making shots at all when he got here. He was raw offensively. Cooney: He worked on his shot from the day he walked in the building. He was trying to be less of a four and more of a small forward, someone who could make plays on the perimeter. He just worked, worked and worked.
On Jerami Grant. Boeheim: I thought he needed another year in college. I think he got a break by not being drafted until the second round by Philadelphia. Philly was doing their thing, “the process” and they needed him to play. I think he got to play a lot, got some confidence, and then he blossomed with Oklahoma City. Cooney: I’ve never been surprised by the success he’s had. I know the work he’s put in. Belbey: He never complained, wasn’t late to practice one time. He was kind of a machine. Someone who saw the bigger picture. That’s why he’s lasted so long in the NBA, with a nice salary, and a big contract coming his way. He’s guarding LeBron (James), Kawhi Leonard, all these guys, with those same long arms and IQ he had at Cuse.
“I think Kobe challenged everybody,” said Jim Boeheim, one of the team’s assistants and the head coach of men’s basketball at Syracuse. “He was like, ‘I’m going to defend the toughest guy on every team, I’m going to push everyone, so just come along with me.’ And he did that from Day 1.” For Colangelo, it was a window into greatness. The foundation for all of Bryant’s feats — the 81-point game, the scoring titles, the series-clinching jump shots, the three championships he had already won with the Lakers — was his work ethic and desire. The spectacular was rooted in the mundane, in the monotony of hard labor.
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“Unbelievable,” Boeheim told The Athletic on Sunday afternoon, shortly after news broke that Bryant, 41, had died in a helicopter crash. “You don’t ever think it’ll happen to someone like him. He was amazing. He was the most competitive guy I have ever worked with. Michael Jordan is the only one in the same category as far as competitiveness. Kobe competed every play. He changed our whole Olympic movement with his effort, his work ethic. He was a one-of-a-kind player. They don’t make them like that.”
Jim Boeheim: Kobe Bryant was not only one of the greatest basketball players ever, he was also the hardest working player I’ve ever been around. I was so fortunate to have known him and coached him with Team USA. Our thoughts and our prayers are with his wife, Vanessa, and the Bryant family.
How big of a role did coach Jim Boeheim play in your decision to go to Syracuse and how did he help you get to this next level? TB: That played a humungous role in my decision. Everyone knows he has a ton of basketball knowledge, coaching for over 40 years. He taught me so much not only as a basketball player but as a young man – the importance of working hard, being resilient, working your way up through life and taking responsibility. I think my time at Syracuse really helped me grow as a man.
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